Scott Darling is from Lemont, Illinois in case you need a reminder. The #LemontsDarling hashtag hasn’t been used quite as often this season.

Darling being an Illinois native, I turned to him recently to discuss Illinois matters, such as the state lacking a Division I college hockey program and what it was like being a hockey player growing up in Lemont. We also got into him meeting his childhood idol Ed Belfour again, the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and, of course, his plans for the future.

Scott Powers: The Frozen Four is obviously coming to Chicago, and the state lacks a Division I hockey program. Would you have considered an Illinois school if that was an option coming out of high school?

Scott Darling: When I was younger, my dad and I used to go up to either the Kohl Center in Madison or we’d drive up to Yost Arena in Ann Arbor. That’s always where I wanted to go to school growing up. I wanted to be a Badger, a Wolverine. I used to go to the Michigan summer hockey camps with Red Berenson, stuff like that.

When I was younger, I became close with a goalie for Wisconsin, Bernd Bruckler. We’d go up and watch him play all the time. That was pretty much our choices. Obviously there’s a few Michigan schools, we aligned with the Wolverines and I was a big Michigan fan. It would be pretty cool if there was a team in Chicago. Now there’s Notre Dame, but when I was growing up I don’t think they were Division I. [Ed. note: Notre Dame has consistently been a Division I program since 1984.] Now they have a terrific program and awesome arena and now they’re in the Frozen Four.

SP: It seems like a lot of those other surrounding states have benefitted from Illinois not having a program.

SD: I honestly wonder if that’s a reason why at least from my experience why a lot of guys from the Illinois area have gone to the OHL because they don’t have that attachment. There’s not that one college hockey team to watch or follow or to root for. I don’t know if that has anything to do with it. But there’s definitely a good crop of kids in Chicago to pick from. I ended up playing on the East Coast and then ended up at the University of Maine. You find the best opportunity you can. It would be pretty cool to have an Illinois Division I team.

Scott Darling attended Lemont High School for one year. (Dennis Wierzbicki/USA TODAY Sports)

SP: Were there other kids from Lemont you played hockey with?

SD: In Lemont, there was one other kid. There was another goalie who was my teammate at Chicago Young Americans who just happened to be from Lemont too. Other than that, there wasn’t really anybody.

SP: Is that one of the more difficult aspects of being a hockey player that you’re disassociated from other athletes at your high school?

SD: Definitely when I was younger, the Hawks weren’t big, hockey wasn’t big. I was kind of the kid at school who missed every Friday or had to miss a bunch of days.

It’s funny — I reconnect with people who I went to high school with and they go, now we get why you missed so much school or why you moved around so much. But at the time, you’re just like, oh, he’s some hockey kid, I don’t know what he does, why he leaves school every Thursday afternoon, because you know we’d always go up to Michigan or Toronto for tournaments and stuff like that. I imagine it’d be a lot different now, but when I was growing up it wasn’t like people would understand it.

SP: Is it unique you’re now influencing those kids?

SD: I think I’m part of it, absolutely. But I think the big switch started when Rocky [Wirtz] and John McDonough and Stan [Bowman], when we got Taser [Jonathan Toews] and [Patrick] Kane, that’s when it really started.

SP: But you’re widely associated with Lemont and being a local player.

SD: Absolutely. There have been a few local players before me. But it’s really cool to be in this position and be like a role model. Whenever we’re out doing something with the team, you see kids they’re in Huskies’ jersey or Vikings, I used to play for both those teams. You see the Team Illinois and Chicago Young Americans, it’s cool for them to know.

I remember when I played for CYA one of the goalies was older than me, Gregg Naumenko, he played for CYA and then he was playing pro. I think he was in the Ducks’ organization. I thought that was so cool. He played for CYA and I think he was playing for the Cincinnati Ducks in the A at the time. I thought that was like the coolest thing ever. To have it flipped around to be the kid who played at CYA and now plays for the Blackhawks, it’s pretty cool.

Scott Darling has appeared in five playoff games in his career. (Aaron Doster/USA TODAY Sports)

SP: Did you get a chance to talk to Ed Belfour when he was recently here?

SD: Yeah, I did. That was pretty awesome. I actually got to interview him. It was pretty funny.

SP: What was that for?

SD: It was kind of my idea. They asked if I wanted to do something with him. I was like, ‘Yeah, what do you want to do?’ I’m like, ‘Have me interview him, like do a sit-down with him,’ and so we did. We set up like a little couch combo. It was fun. It was pretty cool. He’s an awesome guy.

SP: I know you previously said he was one of our favorite players growing up. What was that like to do?

SD: I met him when I was seven years old at a hockey camp because his son was in the camp. His son is around my age. I put him on the spot, ‘Hey, do you remember meeting me at Seven Bridges when I was seven years old.’ He’s like, ‘Um, to be honest, I don’t.’ I was like, ‘What? I can’t believe it.’ But obviously you don’t expect him to be. But he knew who was I was, which I thought was pretty crazy. Like I said, his son was a goalie. We tried out for some of the same teams. He’s known who I was since I was in AAA. He said that back then he thought I was a going to be a good goalie, so that meant a lot to me too.

SP: With the playoffs around the corner, do you start preparing for anything and everything to happen?

SD: Yeah, that’s kind of my role all the time is to be ready to go. You never know. Even if you’re not playing, you’re not supposed to play, Corey could get sick, Corey could get hurt, something crazy could happen. It’s all happened in the last 2 1/2-3 years.

It’s kind of my job to just prepare like I’m going to play. If I don’t play, stay ready. You know it gets even more intensified in the playoffs because there’s no throwaway games. There’s no you’re down, it’s okay, just try to stop the bleeding. You got to perform when you’re in there.

SP: I’m not sure if you’re aware of it, but there’s a lot of chatter around about your future beyond this season. Are you thinking about it all?

SD: I mean, all I really know is nothing is happening right now. Right now I’m super thrilled to be where I’m at, to play for the Blackhawks. I’m just worried about playoffs coming up and hoping for a nice, long playoff run. All that stuff will sort itself out in the summer. There’s no reason to stress out about it now because there’s no answers. There’s nothing that can happen. Just stay in the moment and be happy to be a Blackhawk and get ready for the playoffs.

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Scott Powers is the lead hockey writer for The Athletic Chicago. Previously, he covered the Blackhawks and the White Sox for ESPN Chicago. He has also written for the Daily Herald and the Chicago Sun-Times and has been a sportswriter in the Chicagoland area for the past 15 years. Follow Scott on Twitter @byscottpowers.